Daily Archives: 28 Apr 2011

Taiwanese authorities have threatened to fine a self-proclaimed prophet unless he removes remarks from his blog predicting an “apocalyptic quake” that triggered panic preparations among numerous followers. “Issuing unauthorised forecasts on earthquakes is punishable by a fine” of up to Tw$1 million ($33,000), Lin Yeu-woo, a weather bureau spokesman, told reporters. Dozens of Taiwanese have reportedly rushed to prepare makeshift shelters in central Taiwan after the man, known only as “Teacher Wang”, alleged that a huge earthquake and tsunami would destroy the island next month.

Lunacy of the falsely prophetic type knows no national boundaries. It would be grand if we had such laws here. If we did then Bentley and Robertson and the former Falwell and the heretic Hagee would all have been driven into bankruptcy decades ago.

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1- Superman is fictional
2- Fictional characters aren’t real citizens
3- Superman can’t renounce what he doesn’t have
4- because he can’t have something if he doesn’t exist
5- And he doesn’t exist because he’s a fictional character

Jumpin’ jehosaphat people are crazy! I suspect the birthers are behind the troubles. It’s the sort of insanity that’s right up their alley.

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A former high school band teacher in North Carolina was arrested on sex charges after a young woman wrote in an essay in her college newspaper that he got her pregnant – and took her to get an abortion – when she was his student. The essay, “I had an affair with my high school teacher,” used some fake names but identified the Winston-Salem school, and the principal there tipped off authorities. It was originally written for a composition class at North Carolina Central University and appeared in the campus paper this month as part of an annual special section. The piece, which describes a relationship that started when the student was 17 and her teacher 24, begins with a chilling description of the abortion.

Depraved. Too many people in positions of authority use it to their own perverted advantage and leave in their wake victims who will never be the same.

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Michele Norris speaks with Reginald Eppes, who survived the deadly tornado in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with his wife Danielle and three sons, RJ, James and Joel. Reginald is in the hospital recovering from fractured ribs and a deflated lung.

The Rev. Kevin Gray, former pastor at Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Parish in Waterbury, was also sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation. The Republican-American reports that a plea of no contest was entered on Gray’s behalf, which means he didn’t admit guilt, but a conviction for first-degree larceny was entered on his record.

Ironically…

Gray’s attorney called many of the charges against his client overblown.

Ummmm…. Disgraceful reprobate. He should have converted to Mennonite-ism. Since Münster those depraved devils tolerate and embrace every deviance. With thanks to T. Verenna on FB for the story tip.

Biblical Studies runs the risk of being an outlier in this pursuit if it (or the department) fosters the impression that knowing about the Bible is equivalent to knowing about Christianity or Judaism, (i.e., if Biblical Studies classes are the main classes in which these traditions are examined), or if Biblical Studies sticks to philological analysis when the rest of the courses are examining vital and living religious communities. History can help Biblical Studies make clear that the Bible is an ancient text from an ancient context. Thus, religious ideas and practices described in it can be understood first and foremost as parts of the past. The ramifications and reinterpretations of these ideas and practices up until and in the present (covered, hopefully also in classes on the history of Christianity or Judaism and in courses on modern Christianity and Judaism) then provide separate but overlapping points of entry into the diversity of humans’ religious experience.

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Some people just need a good thrashing, it’s true. ‘Spare the rod, spoil the heretical lying deceiving hate-mongering reprobate’.

It seems that a member of the Westboro Baptist Church Synagogue of Satan got a little more than he expected in Brandon, MS. As usual, a crew of Phelpsian reprobates descended upon Brandon to protest the funeral of fallen Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Rogers, who died in Afghanistan. Apparently, while filling up at a gas station, the WBC/SoS member mouthed of to someone else and, well, had his clock cleaned. The Hayride reports, “Police were called and … Read More

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Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell today reported first-quarter profit increases of 69 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from the same period last year. With rising gas and oil prices, analysts expected the five biggest oil companies — with Exxon as the largest — to report that they are swimming in revenue.

Exxon earned $10.7 billion in the first quarter, up from $6.3 billion. Shell announced profit of $6.3 billion in the first quarter this year, up from $4.8 billion.

BP and ConocoPhillips announced their first quarter earnings Wednesday, in a week when the biggest oil companies have begun to release their 2011 profits. The “Big Five” oil companies include BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil and Shell.

ConocoPhillips said its first quarter earnings increased 43 percent to $3 billion from $2.1 billion in the same period last year. BP’s first quarter earnings dipped this year — $5.48 billion compared with $5.60 billion during the first quarter a year ago — including a charge of $384 million related to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Oh and the best part? Taxpayer money is used to subsidize them! That’s right- you’re paying them at the pump and you’re paying them with tax money. Makes you feel special (and stupid and used and idiotic for sending the same politicians who enact these policies back to Washington, or at least it should make you feel stupid and used and idiotic if you do that).

The truth is, if they wanted to, they could cut prices right now and still make a huge profit. But they don’t care about the consumer or the economy, they only care about lining their own pockets. Their lack of concern for the poor, who are hardest hit by their idiotic profits, is proof of their unrighteousness.

I honestly hope I live long enough to see the end of oil and the destruction of these greedy companies. May they rot in the hell prepared for such self interested satan worshipers.

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Although scholars have studied ancient Israel for centuries, their purpose has for much of that time been primarily to illuminate and clarify the biblical story. In Biblical History and Israel’s Past Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle describe how scholars have increasingly begun in recent years to tell the story of ancient Israel and its neighbors on its own terms, using both biblical and extrabiblical sources without privileging the biblical perspective.

And

Moore and Kelle provide a comprehensive yet accessible survey of the ways in which the study of the Old Testament and Israel’s past have progressed since the middle of the twentieth century — trends that have till now been difficult for nonspecialists to access and follow. Beginning with the patriarchs and matriarchs, Moore and Kelle summarize major scholars, viewpoints, issues, and developments in the field of study for each major epoch of Israel’s early history. Each chapter includes pull-boxes explaining key terms and concepts, discussion questions to deepen understanding, and suggestions for further reading.

It seems that Philip likes it-

Philip Davies — University of Sheffield
“The rapidly-changing scenario of ‘biblical history’ is certainly in need of a clear, balanced and comprehensive explanation. This book certainly fills that requirement, providing a first-class resource for the scholar and the student, and I can recommend no better book for a new generation of biblical historians. This book will not be standing on my bookshelf. It will lie permanently on my desk. I congratulate the authors on a splendid achievement.”

It’s not out for another month but it’s certainly something worth keeping an eye out for.

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Pay attention to the fact that he [i.e., Jesus] warns us against using too many words and yet also commands us to pray without ceasing in Luke 11 and 18. So, to pray cannot mean to ‘pour words out’ because he forbids that when he uses the Greek term ‘batalogia’ which I translated in German by the term ‘Bladdergebet’ [prattle prayer]. — Huldrych Zwingli

Neat term huh?! The things Zwingli wrote… just too fun sometimes for words.

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Sure, you know him as blogger #2, but Joel has a secret life, as this story shows painfully clearly. Tragically, Joel’s secret life is a life of both crime and bizarre behavior… see for yourself-

not the actual criminal

Got milk? How about 26 gallons of it? One man did, at least for a little while. And that man was dressed in a cow costume. In the category of You Can’t Make This Stuff Up If You Tried, the 18– 46 year-old crawled into a Stafford, Va., Walmart on all fours, reported PotomacLocal.com. After standing, he loaded about $92 worth of milk into a shopping cart and simply rolled the cart out of the without paying, police have confirmed to NBC Washington. He then attempted to give the milk away outside the store, and tried to flee the scene by skipping away, police said.

Yup- that’s Joel, stealing, giving, skipping… With thanks to his wife Leigh Ann for telling me all about his escapades- because you who read him (all 18 of you) deserve to know the truth!

EDUCATION: Teaching materials and the Adult study guide (also available to download free from this web site);

PLUS:The UnAuthorized Version 2.0, an interactive companion to the exhibition including audio-narration.

The UnAuthorized Version uses Exhibitor software (designed by the University’s Humanities Research Institute). This software is provided with the DVD-Rom and can be installed on your PC, or can normally be run from disc on other operating systems. Instructions are included on the DVD-Rom. The software is primarily designed for use with MS Windows (all versions). We cannot guarantee full compatibility with other operating systems.

Samples of the printable material including one of the panel designs area available to download (see left-hand menu).

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The reclusive Russian maths genius who solved one of the world’s most perplexing mysteries said in a rare interview Thursday that he began his training by figuring out how Jesus walked on water. Grigory Perelman shot to international fame by solving the seemingly intractable Poincare conjecture and then turning down the million-dollar prize awarded in the mathematics world’s version of the Nobel. The 44-year-old now lives with his mother in a working-class Saint Petersburg high-rise and studiously avoids the press. But he told the mass-circulation Komsomolskaya Pravda daily that he and other Soviet-era students developed their prowess by learning to think in abstract terms at a very young age.

I’ve always known math people are weirdos. Here’s living proof. He sure looks the part, doesn’t he… Math people. Freaks…

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A German woman who had escaped without serious injury from a dog attack was accidentally shot by police while she hid from the animal behind a door, police said on Wednesday. Police in Berlin shot the dog dead, but a stray bullet went through the door behind which the woman was cowering, striking her in the arm. The woman was not seriously injured. She had gone to visit neighbors at their apartment on Tuesday evening when their two-year-old dog Carlito attacked her.

Just think what might have happened if she had been a criminal! [Yeah, she’s ok- otherwise it wouldn’t be at all worth mentioning].

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The storms that rolled through yesterday and last night have damaged some of the schools in the area and consequently, several are closed.

That bit of background to explain why this note was posted on the local news channel’s Facebook page… it speaks for itself and is the reason this post is titled ‘boy, let’s hope so!’ (and the facebooker’s name has been blotted out so as to spare embarrassment. It just struck me as ironic and funny).

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This was such a destructive storm. It’s just mind numbing. If you haven’t seen the monster unleashed, you can here. If you’re the praying sort, then please pray for the families of the victims of the storms across the South. There are, at last report, 159 dead, with 128 of them being from Alabama (according to CNN just a few ago).